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Legislation would close loophole that prevents Consumer Product Safety Commission from developing safety standards for firearms
May 6, 2023 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - With the Gun Violence Archive reporting that guns have killed more than 14,000 Americans so far in 2023 -- including at least 185 mass shootings – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL) announced on Friday that the Firearm Safety Act -- common sense legislation to allow the Consumer Product Safety Commission to create safety standards for firearms -- is being introduced in the Senate for the first time. This bill is endorsed by Brady United, Everytown, Giffords, and March For Our Lives. Representative Kelly will reintroduce the bill in the House.
The Firearm Safety Act would bring guns and ammunition under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The legislation will close the exception for firearms in the Consumer Product Safety Act in 1972, barring the CPSC from creating safety standards for these dangerous weapons.
This common-sense reform would allow the CPSC – which already oversees hazardous products that pose a threat to American consumers – to issue safety standards for guns and ammunition that will help reduce gun-related deaths.
The Firearm Safety Act amends the Consumer Product Safety Act to remove the exclusion of pistols, revolvers, and other firearms from the CPSC definition of “consumer product” to permit the issuance of safety standards for such articles by the CPSC.
By allowing the CPSC to regulate Firearms, they will be able to:
- Recall defective firearms
- Set minimum safety standards for firearms and ammunition
- Collect data on gun-related deaths and injuries, and
- Require warning labels on firearms and ammunition.
“Toy guns are subjected to more stringent federal safety standards than real ones -- it’s absurd,” said Senator Booker. “For decades, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has succeeded in reducing injuries and deaths and making everyday consumer products safer, from car seats to bicycles to portable generators to batteries. There is no justification for why federal laws protect children from these products while ignoring guns, when reports estimate that firearms result in an average of 45,000 deaths and an additional 40,000 injuries annually. I’m proud to introduce this bill in the Senate for the first time and empower the CPSC to begin making our communities safer from guns.”
“Safety regulation is critical to protecting consumers from dangerous products, and guns should not be an exception,” said Senator Warren. “With firearms as the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens today, it’s long past time for Congress to stand up to the gun lobby and remove the firearm exemption from the Consumer Product Safety Act.”
"It is nonsensical that a product designed for lethal force is currently unreachable by critical health and safety regulations. The CPSC has jurisdiction over more than 15,000 kinds of consumer products used in and around the home, yet guns remain unregulated for health and safety," said Representative Kelly. "By empowering the CPSC to set minimum safety standards for the gun industry, just like they do with benign products like teddy bears and bicycles, thousands of lives could be saved every year.”
"The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s current prohibition on the oversight of firearms defies common sense. It is past time the CPSC has as much jurisdiction over real guns as it does water guns. The need for these safety standards is not hypothetical, we have already witnessed guns – like the SIG Sauer P320 pistol – firing without the trigger being pulled causing irrevocable harm to firearm users. Brady is proud to endorse the reintroduction of the Firearm Safety Act and thanks Rep. Kelly and Sen. Booker for their leadership," said Brady President Kris Brown.
“Over 4.6 million American kids live in a house with at least one unsecured gun, but for decades gun makers have gotten special Congressional exemptions from integrating basic childproofing features into their products," said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. "We applaud Senator Booker and Congresswoman Kelly for introducing legislation that will ensure guns are regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, like just about every other product Americans use.”
"It is unacceptable that firearms are the only consumer product in the U.S. exempt from product safety oversight. Consumers are forced to operate under a 'buyer beware' approach with lethal weapons and rely on the gun industry to produce quality products without defects. But time and again, the gun industry puts profits over safety and produces weapons that misfire and cause devastating injuries. The Firearm Safety Act would enable the Consumer Product Safety Commission to oversee the firearms industry to ensure consumers are buying firearms that are safe to use. We applaud Congresswoman Kelly and Senator Booker for introducing this commonsense legislation," said Adzi Vokhiwa, GIFFORDS Federal Affairs Director.
It’s unbelievable that firearms aren’t treated with the same legal scrutiny and safety standards that cars, washing machines, or any other consumer products are,” said Zeenat Yahya, Director of Policy at March For Our Lives. “The Consumer Product Safety Commission must require the same scrutiny and regulation as other products, especially when firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the US. Excluding pistols, revolvers, and other firearms from the Consumer Product Safety Act is a deadly loophole that must be closed.
The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR).
The full text of the bill can be found here.
Source: Senator Cory Booker
